Watch: Cops, bystanders lift car to rescue 2 men trapped

WAUSAU, Wis — When police responded to the scene of an accident Saturday, they saw no crash but found two men stuck under the engine area of a midsize sedan parked in the middle of a street.

The 28- and 32-year-old men from Wausau, whose names were not released, were wedged perpendicular to the car when officers were called at 1:38 a.m. CT, police said. Video shows officers and bystanders lifting the 3,400-pound Mitsubishi Galant to get the men to safety.

The temperature at the time was about 22 degrees, according to Weather Underground.

The two men and others in the area "were less than cooperative" when police questioned them about how two men might have ended up under the car, Wausau Police Capt. Ben Bliven said Monday. Everybody there was intoxicated.

"There weren't any injuries (to the men) or damage to the car that were consistent with a traffic crash," Bliven said. "We're kind of perplexed. We questioned everybody at the scene but got no answers."

Both of the men trapped were taken to a local hospital. One had minor injuries; the other had severe burns from the vehicle's engine, the captain said. One of the men owns the car and also lives nearby.

Police haven't been able to determine who, if anybody, was driving the Galant but could charge a driver with recklessly endangering safety. Bliven said a drunk-driving charge would be difficult to prosecute now.

Without any clear knowledge of what happened that night, officers have decided to fill in the blanks for fun.

"Maybe someone laid down in front of the car to stop someone from driving while intoxicated. Maybe they were doing some kind of car surfing," Bliven said. "But those are two wild guesses."